Seat only on charter flight
 

Thomas Cook are running charter flights from multiple places in the UK to an airport in the EU next year - I would like to catch one of these flights. There are no scheduled flights between the UK and the destination airport in question.

I realise that the purpose of a charter flight is to take package holiday makers to their week away and boost the profits of the holiday organiser. I would however like to buy a one-way flight if possible, but so far have been given a 'not interested in you' response by junior sales clerks. Not unreasonable as they are in the business of selling package holidays.

Clearly in peak season, trying to buy a one-way seat on a charter flight is a waste of time but in low or shoulder season, there are presumably seats available. Are there any rules or laws that make it difficult for a holiday firm selling one way charter seats without accommodation ? Note - this is from the UK to an EU airport - not talking about anywhere like Egypt, India or North Cyprus where other rules may apply. Any specific commercial constraints that would motivate the holiday firm ? If no reasons not to sell spare seat capacity, is there an accepted way of trying to purchase just a seat quietly ?

I know Monarch sometimes sell seats on Avro flights, but alas in this case, they're not the operator.

Have you tried going to the T. Cook website and selecting 'Flights' in the box on the left hand side?

Flythomasc---.com

Yes, I have tried the Thomas Cook website and had a good hunt around under the Flights section. No, nothing comes up when I try to search the route. And yes, I have verified when trying to book a 7-night package holiday via the T Cook website that there is still space on specific dates. Yes, I have been into a T Cook shop but got no luck from the staff there

Then I suspect that TC have chosen not to sell any (more?) air-only seats. I don't know what their motivation would be but if it is an EU destination there are no regulatory constraints.

Any clues to the country.

Route is from Gatwick to Lleida in Spain, near the Pyrenees mountains, operated by Thomas Cook Airlines, chartered to Thomas Cook's ski holiday subsidiary, Neilson.

I'm reckoning as a minimum, that flights will be almost entirely about taking Brits to Andorra for a week of skiing and thne bringing them back to the UK. The number of people from Lleida visiting London for a week should be tiny.

I know that Reus and Zaragoza are not *that* far away, but Lleida would be rather more convenient for me....

The last 1-week ski package departs Gatwick on 23 March 2014 and returns to Gatwick on 30 March 2014. This means the flight from Gatwick to Lleida on 30 March is little more than a ferry flight, going out near empty to bring home lots of skiers. The question is how to persuade Thomas Cook / Neilson to sell one way seats on an empty ferry flight, and what motives they may have for *not* being able or not wanting to sell seats.

There's no certainty that the 30 March flight operates outbound from Gatwick, empty. It is common at the transition between seasons for the holiday airlines to operate say (purely hypothetical) the first of the season Manchester to Ibiza, then ferry from there to Lleida, then return to Gatwick with the last skiers of the season.

Maybe there are insurance reasons as well. If the flight goes out as empty it might not be insured for transporting pax. And it might just be too expensive to fully insured the flight for just one pax.

Rwy in Sight.